Sports participation comes with some amount of inherent risk, with most athletes experiencing at least one injury throughout their careers. Combat sports are well known globally, and about one-third of their injuries lead to more than seven days of absence from competition or training. It mostly injures body regions like the head and neck, followed by the upper and lower limbs. The most common tissue types injured in this sport are superficial tissues and skin, followed by ligaments and joint capsules. 

Nutrition has a notable role in injury prevention and boosting the recovery process due to its effect on the overall physical and psychological well-being of the athlete and improving tissue healing. Especially, amino acid and protein intake, antioxidants, creatine, and omega-3 are crucial due to their therapeutic roles in preventing muscle loss and anabolic resistance and promoting injury healing. 

Since chronic low energy availability is a significant risk factor for bone injuries, athletes should maintain their energy balance. Thus, carefully monitoring changes in energy demands during the training, competition, and recovery periods is important. Next, it is also crucial to prevent rapid weight loss (RWL) and consume sufficient protein to ensure bone health, particularly in anabolic resistance in muscles during combat sports, and to maintain lean muscle mass. Thus, increasing the daily protein intake in combination with exercise, balanced dispersal of protein intake among meals, and consuming protein with a high content of leucine will help in optimal performance and recovery.

For maintaining muscle mass and metabolic health, creatine supplementation can improve strength and maintain lean muscle mass during the immobilization and rehabilitation process. Further, fish oil consumption, calcium, and vitamin C, D, and E supplementation have also shown benefits in reducing muscle loss and inflammation associated with injuries during recovery. Vitamin C increases collagen synthesis, tendon and ligament repair, and improvement in surgical outcomes. Thus, vitamin C intake (≥46 mg/day) should be adequate. Also, consuming hydrolyzed collagen (10–15 g/day) can help prevent and treat joint, tendon, and ligament injuries. In particular, consuming gelatin or hydrolyzed collagen 30–60 min before exercise benefits collagen production. 

Thus, to impart maximum benefits considering a Balanced nutrition regimen is crucial.

Turnagöl HH, KoÅŸar ÅžN, Güzel Y, Aktitiz S, Atakan MM. Nutritional Considerations for Injury Prevention and Recovery in Combat Sports. Nutrients. 2021 Dec 23;14(1):53. doi: 10.3390/nu14010053. PMID: 35010929; PMCID: PMC8746600.